Monu 25: Independent Urbanism

The various phenomena impacting cities of countries that have become newly independent is the focus of this issue. It examines, for instance, the remodelling of Skopje, Macedonia, according to an image of the city that never existed as such, as well as the major struggles cities face in finding their new identity, as seen in Prishtina, Kosovo. In an interview with Bart Lootsma, Dijana Vučinić describes how preserving identity within cultures that desire to join the EU, such as Montenegro, is one of their biggest challenges. A photo essay by Arnis Balcus expands on how public monuments and spaces stoke controversial issues and collective traumas, and yet the dreams of a more hopeful younger generation persist in the series by Julia Autz. Published by Monu (Rotterdam).